Ankita Wadhawan* and Ritu Sharma
Aim: The present study aims to understand the relationship between defense mechanisms and dysfunctional personality traits among substance abuse patients.
Method: Using purposive sampling, a total of 100 participants were recruited from two de-addiction and rehabilitation centres in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The three key variables were assessed using the CAGE Adapted to Drugs (CAGE- AID) to screen patients for substance abuse, Personality Inventory for DSM-V Brief Form (PID-5-BF) to evaluate personality dysfunction and Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) to assess the clusters of defense mechanisms used by the patients.
Results: The findings of the study suggest a significant and positive relationship between negative affectivity domain and substance abuse (r=0.264, p=0.008) as well as disinhibition domain and substance abuse (r=0.225, p=0.024). A significant and positive correlation between the turning against object cluster of defenses and substance abuse (r=0.242, p=0.015) was found among the patients.
Conclusion: These findings may have implications in treatment of substance abuse patients by identifying the ego defense mechanisms that the patient uses in the course of treatment and aiming to eradicate such maladaptive defenses in order to increase the compliance of the patient towards the treatment.
Published Date: 2024-01-30; Received Date: 2022-06-08
